XVI. AN ORPHAN FROM MEMPHIS BECOMES
23d ALEXA NDRIAN POPEA. 228. How Theophilus and his sister became wards
of Abba Athanasius.
- His ordination as priest and then election as Pope.
- His discovery of a treasure and its consequences.
- By permission of Emperor Theodosius, he transforms
pagan temples into Churches, beginning with the
Serapium. - The mutually beneficial friendship between him and
the Bishop of the Pentapolis. - Isidorus and the `Tall' brothers.
- Laws of Abba Theophilus.
- Theophilus in historical perspective.
- Prominent contemporaries of Abba Theophilus.
B. 237. The fine arts in Christian Egypt.
A. 228. In the line of succession to the chair of St.
Mark, a man by the name of Theophilus became the twenty-
third Pope of the See of Alexandria. His coming to this
supreme honour was, indeed, one of the countless proofs of
God's Providence. Theophilus and an only sister, both born
in Memphis,^1 had lost both parents at a very tender age. An
Ethiopian slave woman who had been nursing them since
their birth, took charge of them and assumed responsibility
for their upbringing. When they both reached adolescence;
the nurse decided it would be in their best interest to take
them to live in Alexandria so that they might attend school
there. It was a wise decision, and though she did not know it
then, it determined the destiny of both Theophilus and his
sister.